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How To Liven Up Your Leader Character

January 3, 2017

Remember that 'character building' series I told you guys I would be starting up? WELL - I became impatient and decided I would do the first post much earlier in the month than I had planned. xD

So. Here we are with How To Liven Up Your Leader Character. (there are a few spoilers in the post, so be aware of that)

Leaders. Can I even pinpoint a story without a leader character, if not multiple leader characters (speaking mostly about the speculative fiction here)? No. I can't.

A leader is a character who makes the hard choices, gets the other characters going again when all hope seems lost, and is always there to rely on. Stories need these kind of characters.

Aragorn son of Arathorn, Cinder, Professor Remus Lupin - the list can keep trailing on and on and on. But what separates one leader character from the swarm of other leaders?

1. Flaws

A leader character needs a flaw. They cannot be perfect. For example - Aragorn, from the Lord Of The Rings series, is afraid of following the path of his ancestor Isildur and not being able to make the right choice about the Ring when the time comes. He's worried about how Arwen's fate will turn out (not that it's technically wrong for him to be worried for her - but it definitely plays a big role in how he acts). Without flaws, your leader character will come off as being far too perfect.
Why not make your mentor deathly afraid of being alone? Or perhaps he or she is afraid of the sound of gunfire - I think this would be especially interesting in a dystopian book. To see a leader character fight (and overcome!) their fear can give us a special kind of hope, too.

2. Physical Attributes

Physical attributes can definitely play a big part in making your leader character. Professor Lupin, from the Harry Potter series, is a werewolf, so he has to rely on others to help him when the full moon comes around - otherwise he'll turn into a wolf and won't know his own mind until he shape-shifts back. And then there's Cinder, from the Lunar Chronicles, who's part cyborg. This attribute gives her special abilities that the other characters don't have. She can download things into her brain, use her cyborg arm in ways the others can't, and directly view news feeds in her mind, among other things. But her being a cyborg also means that a lot of people won't accept her.
Maybe your leader is physically disabled somehow. Perhaps he's a mix of two races that are usually enemies. Physical attributes can be both an asset and an obstacle to your leader character.

3. Forcing Them To Become The Leader

Maybe your character never meant to be the leader. Maybe they were kind of forced into that position.
Let's take Katniss Everdeen, for instance. She didn't want any part in
the Hunger Games - but when her sister is chosen to play in the game,
she volunteers to take Prim's place because she doesn't want to see her
sister killed. And then she becomes the face of the revolution when her
and Peeta manage to both come out of the Games alive - it's not a role she chose, but one that she was given. And one that she must keep if she wants to see the world made right again.
Maybe your character realized they needed to step up after someone they
love gets hurt. Or maybe something happened to your leader's home to
make them realize they can't stay silent anymore. Show us why your leader has stepped into this role, even if the leader isn't the main character.

4. Their Connection To The Antagonist

The way that the leader character is connected to the antagonist of your story (whether the leader is the main character or not) can be interesting as well.
Going back to the Cinder example - Lihn Cinder is the leader of the people who would overthrow Queen Levana. And Queen Levana just happens to be her aunt. Cinder is worried about how being connected to Levana in this way affects her. But you don't want your leader to be connected to the antagonist in a cliche way - be careful with this if your leader is also your main character. You don't want to end up with a copy of Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker.
Perhaps your leader and your antagonist were best friends when they were little (this would be a little less cliche if the leader is not also the main character). Maybe they were lovers. Or maybe the leader is fighting this villain because his or her deceased parents wished to see this villain overthrown? There's tons of stuff you could play with here.

5. Give Them Something To Hold On To And Fight For (that's not just the Quest)

Yes, of course your
leader will be fighting to fulfill whatever the Quest in your book is - whether
it be getting Frodo to Mordor or overthrowing President Snow. But it can make
your leader character more fully thought out if you give them something else,
maybe something more personal, to fight for as well. This could be something
that they hold on to and it gives them hope.

Going back to the
example of Aragorn and Arwen. Aragorn is fighting to fulfill the Quest -
getting the Ring to Mount Doom and destroying it once and for all. But he's
also fighting to save Arwen, the woman he loves. This is a more personal thing
he's fighting for.

Maybe your leader
character has been promised something special, which will be given to them if
they can fulfill the Quest. Maybe the leader has a family he or she is fighting
for? Or maybe they're fighting just to get one glance of the ocean before they
die.

Whatever you do (whether you take any of my advice or not) make sure to keep your leader unique - set them apart from all the droves of other characters. That's the most important thing of all.

So. There's part one of the How To Liven Up Your ______ Character series. Hopefully I gave you guys some helpful information you can try to play with xD. I'll be back in the next couple of weeks with the second installment of this series *nodnod*.

~ Savannah Grace

What's the name of your leader character? What kind of character should be next in this series? (secondary, villain, etc.)

39 comments
:

I love this post Savannah! Great tips for when I start working again on Changeling ;)Next character....I thibknit would be cool to look into minor characters. They help move the story on, and we don't always notice that. ALSO, VILLAINS. I really want to read that post *holds pen ready and glances at my queen*

*hugs all the minor characters that I love* THAT would be a fun post - maybe it will make its way into the series ;). And for some reason I think villains are really fun to write (even if mine don't normally turn out well xD) so that post is almost guaranteed to happen *nodnod*.

Ooo, this was such a good post. :) I struggle with writing compelling leaders since I myself am most definately not one. I don't have that "Take charge and motivate the people" mentality. I am bookmarking this post for when I need to write a Leader again. :)

And just a suggestion, with the spoilers (thankfully I had read all those books) but if you could maybe turn the font white so that you have to select it in order to read the words? That might make it easier for someone not to read the spoilers, but who still wants to read the post. (because admittedly you have some pretty big series spoilers mentioned :P)

Ooh, that's a really good idea *hopes I didn't ruin anyone's reading with those spoilers*. I'll make sure to do that next time - thanks! :D (also, GOOD FOR YOU for having read all the books I mentioned xD)

Such a good post! I am presently working on a (or three, but hey :D) novel where the character runs away from a laboratory and she is also part cyborg (well she fits the description you gave in the example, I didn't know that's what she was XD) so she is first to busy trying to fit in to bother use her powers for a greater cause. I'll think about other flaws and backup stories :)

also villains? Cuz I don't think I ever got the difference between villains and antagonists XD

Great post! I definitely approve of all the reference to Aragorn. ;-) Seriously, though, I loved what you said. I feel like they tried to make Aragorn too perfect in the movies. They cut out all his mistakes, and somehow it made him less cool.

AAAAHHHH, SAVANNAH. THIS IS BRILLIANCE. I just want to gobble this post up. It makes such perfect points!

The flaws one is golden (and using Aragorn as an example is even more golden ;D). We do not hate Aragorn for his flaws, we actually love him for it. He seems even MORE precious because he's afraid. He's so tough and can basically take down an entire army single-handedly, and yet he's scared. And that just...sdjflsjd;lfjsdf. IT'S SO PRECIOUS. I think people are scared to flaw their characters lest readers dislike them, but it just makes them even MORE lovable.

I also really like the plotline of someone being forced to be a leader. I don't know why. It's just fun to see the forced leader or "reluctant hero" step out and take the roll. It's very inspiring.

CONNECTIONS. I am OBSESSED with connections in stories. Cliche or not, it's waaaay too fun when the charries end up knowing each other in some form or fashion.

And #5!!! *huggles point* YES. It gets boring if the character is fighting just to "save the world". When they're doing it for something specific, something personal, it means soooo much more. What a wonderful point!

I will say it again, these are brilliant! I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS SERIES. This is so great, Savannah! :D

EEP, CHRISTINE! *flails* THANK YOU for your sweet comment, girl! Glad I could be helpful :D.

(anything Aragorn is golden ;D) And YES I agree that the flawed characters are some of the most loveable. Basically that's one of my biggest tips to writers - FLAW YOUR CHARACTERS. They're always the best ;). *tackles the Dragon with a hug*

CONNECTIONS, YES. I love being on the edge of my seat, trying to guess who is connected to who. It's just so much fun! (except for when it's too cliche, because then I get peeved xD. BUT otherwise it's epic *nodnod*)

THANK YOU, LAURI! Your enthusiasm is so contagious xD. *promptly goes off to work on the next post*

This is soooo helpful! I've been struggling with my leader type character (characters actually, since the leader character is different throughout each book in my series). I can't wait to read more of these posts! :D

This is /really/ good. And super helpful. The leader character isn't one that immediately jumps to mind when you're thinking about the defining characters that make up stories in general (I know I wouldn't even think about it), so thank you for drawing attention to it!

Having never thought about this before, I can't really come up with a leader character from my current WIP. Maybe Patrick? But no... hm... I'd have to think about that one a bit. :P

Thank you, Brianna! I'm glad this was helpful - and yes, normally the main character is the one most thought of, but I love calling attention to the other epic characters that are sometimes overlooked xD.

I really want to write a post on villains, now that almost everyone has asked for it xD. It'll be a challenge - but I'm excited to tackle it!

Oh there's a lot of great tips here! I particularly love giving my main characters flaws...terrible flaws that make them mess up the plot all the time.😂 It creates HUGE MESSES but is also so fun to write and keeps things interesting, haha. And I totally agree with #5. Well said!

Nice post! I'm looking forward to more of this--is it a series? My leader character is also kind of the main character. Owen Smith is his name. He's fifteen and the oldest of six. That's right. Six. He's trying to make their life work in this new house before the month is up (for various reasons). He's also trying to keep his brothers and sisters together after their parents have gone missing. A lot of responsibility.

To Christine Smith: I know what you mean about connections. I DO IT ALL THE TIME! Sometimes I think I overdo it, but I just can't stop myself. It's definitely fun, but also annoying. I have a thing at the end of my trilogy that happens and is rather big and epic and causes the events in the next couple of books. So there's a reason. But seriously, I get on my own nerves when I connect ALL my books in one way or another! (But it's way too much fun to stop!!!)

I'm glad you liked it, Gracelyn! Yes, it's a series - I hope to have the next post up around the beginning of February. And I love your character's name! And OH MY, oldest of six? I'm the oldest of six, so that's kind of cool ;). Owen sounds like he's going to be an amazing character!

Thanks! You're the oldest of six too? It's more common than I thought. ;)

I've been trying to go by your advice and find flaws with him (Perfect Character Syndrome). Now I've figured out two! One: he's often afraid he's made the wrong choice, and doubts himself a lot. And two: Owen can tell when someone's doing something wrong, but he doesn't WANT to see it and tries to ignore it when it's someone close to him. He does well enough when it's somebody he doesn't know that well (a bully at school), but he doesn't want to be hard on people he KNOWS. When he's sure, he might give them a good talking to, but when he doesn't know for sure, he ignores it. This proves bad later on. :o

Ooh, it sounds like you've done an amazing job with Owen! I love the flaws you picked for him - they're unique, but also easy to relate to. I hope your book gets published someday so that I can read about him!